Iowa’s labor force participation rate in April inched up to 67.2%, the highest it’s been in 16 months, Iowa Workforce Development data shows.

The state’s labor force participation rate has been hovering around 67% for more than a year. The last time it reached 67.2% was November 2023. In 2019, the year before the start of the pandemic, Iowa’s labor force participation rate ranged between 69.5% and 70.2%, state data shows.

In April, there were 1,667,100 people working in the state, 3,000 more than in March and 4,500 more than in April 2024.

Employment areas that gained jobs in April include professional and business services (up 1,400 jobs since March) and construction (up 1,300 jobs). The job gains in professional and business services were the first since October and mostly due to professional, scientific and technical services hiring, according to the state agency. It was the third straight month of job gains for construction.

Manufacturing and trade, transportation and utilities were down 500 jobs from March.

The unemployment rate in April was 3.5%, up from 3.4% in March. In April 2024, the unemployment rate was 2.8%.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.2% in April.

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